HYDERABAD: As many 1,500 madrasas across the state celebrated Independence Day, the Jamiat-e-Ulema, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (JUTAP), a body of Islamic clerics, announced on Monday.

"The celebrations were on a grand scale this year. Further, celebrations and hoisting of the tricolour was performed at all district offices of the Jamiat-e-Ulema, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh," JUTAP general secretary Khaleeq Ahmed Sabir said on Monday.

Nazims of madrasas said that just as is the case with schools which offer a modern education, Independence Day celebrations at madrasas were organised to familiarise students with the freedom struggle. Celebrations were organised at the Madrasa Tajweed-ul-Quran in Hafez Baba Nagar, the Islamic seminary Ashraful Uloom in Khaja Bagh and the all girls seminary Madrasa Behr ul Uloom in Old City, among many others.

According to noted scholar of Islam Mufti Abdul Mughni Mazaahiri, who later in the day addressed a celebratory meeting at Officer's Mess in Malakpet, said Muslims have played a crucial role in the country freedom struggle. Explaining freedom from a religious standpoint, he said, "Freedom is a characteristic right. The faith expounds on the need for freedom. There have been several scholars of Islam who have fought alongside people of other faiths for a free India. There is a long list which includes Maulana Ahmed Shaheed, Ismail Shaheed, Haji Imadullah, Hafiz Zamin Shaheed and, of course, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad." The scholar of Islam also added that freedom is a humanitarian concept and that Islam has sought to break the manacles of slavery. "Several jurists in light of the texts have fought against slavery. If slavery itself is not permissible, then being enslaved to another people cannot be right," the mufti said.

The tricolour was hoisted at importants masjids such as Masjid-e-Zam Zam in Amberpet and Masjid-e-Saleem Khatoon in Himayat Nagar. A large number of Muslim clerics including JUTAP president and former legislator Hafiz Peer Shabbir too was present as well as those from other walks of life.

The Deeni Madaris Board, a consortium of around 400 small and large Islamic seminaries in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, also organised celebrations at madrassas associated with it. According to Maqsood Yamani, an office bearer of the organisation, the tradition of celebrating Independence Day has been central to Islamic seminaries. "The tricolour is always hoisted at several madrassas across the city and state. The love for one's country is a part of Islam," he said.

A recent series of leaked Islamic State documents have revealed that most of ISIS' recruits had a rudimentary knowledge of Shariah law - the legal system that governs people of the Islamic faith.

The thousands of leaked IS documents shed light on over 4,000 recruits that made their way into Syria during ISIS' heyday. These documents, after being analyzed by the Associated Press, showed that 70% of recruits had just a "basic," the lowest possible category, knowledge of Shariah, while 24% had an "intermediate" knowledge, and 5% "advanced."

According to the AP, this recent revelation suggests that individuals with a limited knowledge of the Islamic faith may be more susceptible to recruitment by ISIS militants - more so than those with a deeper, fundamental understanding of the faith.

This theory is supported not only by AP's documents, but by court testimonies from European ISIS recruits who have allegedly defected from the terrorist organization.

"I realized that I was in the wrong place when they began to ask me questions on these forms like 'when you die, who should we call?," a 32-year-old recruit, who claimed to believe that he was joining the Syrian rebellion to fight against President Bashar Assad's forces, said.

The anonymous recruit also detailed the intake process that he and fellow enlistees underwent: new recruits were indoctrinated with videos with IS propaganda, visited by imams - Muslim religious leaders - who encouraged martyrdom, forced to sever ties with their family, and were required to surrender their electronic devices.

ISIS suspect

This trove of documents from the AP disclosed that one of the mentioned recruits, Karim Mohammad-Aggad, was identified as having a basic knowledge of Shariah. He detailed that he and fellow recruits were smooth-talked by an ISIS recruiter that even went barhopping with them. After claiming to have been treated as "a dirty Arab" in France, he left for Syria where his exploits didn't go as planned - he allegedly left the organization after being treated like an "apostate" - someone who had renounced their faith.

After returning to France in 2013, Mohammad-Aggad and his associates were arrested. Unfortunately, French officials missed one of the suspects, Mohammad-Aggad's brother, who happened to be one of the three men that killed 130 people at the Bataclan on November 13.

"My religious beliefs had nothing to do with my departure," he claimed during a court testimony. "Islam was used to trap me like a wolf."

Muslim woman reads the Quran

Perhaps no other example could personify the lack of familiarity with the faith than two other convicted terrorists, this time from Britain that had ordered copies of “The Koran for Dummies” and Islam for Dummies from Amazon, prior to their trip to Syria to join ISIS.

Former CIA case officer Patrick Skinner explained in the AP report that most of these recruits are those who yearned for a sense of belonging, notoriety, and excitement.

"Religion is an afterthought," said Skinner.

Although many of these oblivious recruits may appear to be prepared for martyrdom, the fate of those that possessed an advanced or intermediate knowledge of Shariah may differ.

"Those with the most religious knowledge within the organization itself are the least likely to volunteer to be suicide bombers," states a report from the United States Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Centre.

Tariq Ramadan, an Islamic Studies professor at Oxford, elaborated on the implications of ISIS' convoluted messages to AP, "The people who are doing this are not experiencing martyrdom, they are criminals. They are killing innocent people. Nothing in Islam, nothing ever can justify the killing of innocent people, never, ever."

Detained ISIS militant in Afghanistan admits he was trained in Pakistan

Tue Aug 16 2016

A loyalist of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has admitted he received terrorist activities training in Pakistan.

The loyalist of the terror group was arrested by the Afghan intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives from Nangarhar province.

The militant was among three people arrested by the NDS operatives and admitted that he received training in Kuchlak area, located near Quetta city, the provincial capital of Balochistan province.

The man admits he originally hails from the southern Zabul province of Afghanistan and was taken to Kuchlak to receive the necessary training to conduct insurgency activities under the ISIS flag.

This comes as local officials in Nangarhar earlier said the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group who are fighting in Afghanistan are mostly the residents of Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

Provincial governor’s spokesman Ataullah Khogyani has said the documents obtained from the dead bodies and those arrested during the operations in Achin, Kot, Haska Mina and other parts of Nangarhar, reveal that they are originally residents of Orakzai Agency.

Khogyani further added that the intelligence information gathered by the government also reveal that the ISIS loyalists are mostly comprised of Pakistani nationals.

According to Khogyani, the residents of Tajikistan are also fighting alongside the Pakistani nationals for ISIS terrorist group who are mainly deployed after completing training in Pakistan.

HYDERABAD: As many 1,500 madrasas across the state celebrated Independence Day, the Jamiat-e-Ulema, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (JUTAP), a body of Islamic clerics, announced on Monday.

"The celebrations were on a grand scale this year. Further, celebrations and hoisting of the tricolour was performed at all district offices of the Jamiat-e-Ulema, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh," JUTAP general secretary Khaleeq Ahmed Sabir said on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Senior RSS leader and patron of the RSS-affiliated Muslim Rashtriya Manch Indresh Kumar unfurled the National Flag at a Bohra madrasa in Nagpur on Monday. Speaking at another event in Nagpur on Sunday evening, Kumar had given a call for Akhand Bharat (united India) by bringing together those areas which had separated from India and urged the youth to take a vow to make it a reality. “No land should remain detached from Bharat. People should respect each and every inch of the nation’s land; only then there will be love, peace, harmony in society, and people will work to re-unite the separated land.”

MUMBAI: Agencies investigating terror cases have come across a new trait among youths inclined towards the Islamic State. The youths have stopped using savings accounts in banks and instead are operating current accounts. Reason: they do not want interest on money lying in banks.

This characteristic came to their attention while they were probing recent cases involving IS sympathisers+ , including those who have left the country to join the IS.

Srinagar: Four persons were killed and several others injured in security forces action against stone-pelting protestors in Budgam and Anantnag districts of Kashmir today where normal life remained paralysed for the 39th consecutive day due to curfew, restrictions and separatist-sponsored strike.

Europe on HIGH ALERT: Armed troops now on French, Italian and Spanish on beaches

Tue, Aug 16, 2016

Soldiers will become a common site at tourist hotspots on the continent following a series of high profile terror attacks, including the Bastille Day massacre in Nice.

France is still in a state of national emergency which was imposed in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks, carried out by Islamic State (ISIS) gunmen, whilst Spain is also facing a growing Islamist threat.

French President François Hollande will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican this week, following the jihadist murder of a French priest. Thousands of Catholics on Monday prayed for peace in the pilgrimage centre of Lourdes, while bishops appealed to the faithful to pray for France across the country on the Feast of the Assumption.

Hollande's office did not say what the president and the Pope would discuss when announcing the meeting Monday.

A recent series of leaked Islamic State documents have revealed that most of ISIS' recruits had a rudimentary knowledge of Shariah law - the legal system that governs people of the Islamic faith.

The thousands of leaked IS documents shed light on over 4,000 recruits that made their way into Syria during ISIS' heyday. These documents, after being analyzed by the Associated Press, showed that 70% of recruits had just a "basic," the lowest possible category, knowledge of Shariah, while 24% had an "intermediate" knowledge, and 5% "advanced."

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian air force dropped leaflets over the terrorist-held regions in Idlib province, calling on the militants to surrender and vowing to liberate the region soon.

The Syrian army aircraft dropped leaflets reading "Surrender Now" over Jisr al-Shoghour city to give the Takfiri terrorists a last chance to lay down their arms and surrender to the authorities.

Military sources disclosed that hundreds of leaflets have been dropped over Jisr al-Shoghour for several times now.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950526000769

--

Nine Civilians Killed as Saudi Jets Bomb Regions across Yemen

August 16, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- At least nine people, including two children, were killed in the latest Saudi military airstrikes against residential neighborhoods in Yemen.

Saudi fighter jets struck a vehicle on Tuesday as it was traveling along a road in the Abs district of the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah, leaving five people dead, Yemen Al-Yawm reported.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950526000698

--

Syrian Army Inflicts Heavy Losses on Terrorists in Eastern, Western Ghoutas

August 16, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army backed by the country's air force continued its military advances in Damascus countryside, inflicting heavy losses on the terrorists' military positions in Eastern and Western Ghoutas.

The Syrian fighter jets pounded heavily the gathering centers of the terrorists in the surrounding areas of the town of Ataya on Tuesday.

The terrorists' military positions in the town of al-Sheyfouniyeh in Eastern Ghouta also came under the Syrian airstrikes.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950526000873

--

Egyptian judoka sent home from Olympics after refusing to shake Israeli opponent’s hand

August 15,2016

An Egyptian judoka has been reprimanded and sent home by the International Olympic Committee for refusing to shake the hand of an Israeli competitor who beat him on Friday, according to the Associated Press.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A commander of Taliban’s special forces was arrested during clashes with the security forces in Northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, local authorities said.

The Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior said the Taliban commander was identified as Faizullah who was leading the special forces of the Taliban in Kunduz province, Khaama Press reported.

The ministry further added that Faizullah was arrested after attacking a security post in Chardara district.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950526000728

--

Russia Confirms Bombers Hit Major ISIL Arms Depots in Syria after Take off from Iran

August 16, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- ISIL terrorist group’s Aleppo arms depots used to supply ISIL militants near Aleppo were destroyed by Russian planes taking off from an Iranian airbase, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The report was published by Sputnik news agency after Al-Masdar News reported Moscow and Tehran signed a military agreement allowing Russian aircraft to station at Hamadan Airport in Western Iran, RT reported.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army fended off an attack by terrorists on its military positions near a strategic village in the Northwestern part of Sweida province.

The terrorists tried to capture the Syrian army's military position in the surrounding areas of Waqam village Northwest of Sweida province, but they were pushed back by the timely counterattack of the Syrian army.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950526000654

--

Jeish Al-Fatah to Lead Negotiations with Russia on Slain Pilots

August 16, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Sources in Idlib disclosed that the Jeish al-Fatah terrorist group has transferred the bodies of slain Russian pilots to its secret bases to use it as a winning card in any future negotiations with Moscow on prisoners' swap.

According to Hadath news website, the General Foundation for Prisoners' Affairs, consisting of the leaders of the main terrorist and dissident groups active in Syria, had four months ago announced that it is the only body responsible for any negotiations on swapping the prisoners but Jeish al-Fatah opposed it, saying that it has different demands, including the freedom of prisoners and seeks to materialize them in talks with Russia.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and senior negotiator Seyed Abbas Araqchi warned the US and other world powers against breaching the contents of the nuclear deal signed with Tehran last year.

"There are still some laggings, negligence and disloyalty by the other side and we confront them very strongly and remind the other side of its responsibilities," Araqchi said after meeting the Iranian legislators in Tehran on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The United Nations remained deeply concerned over the plight of up to 2 million people in need of assistance across Aleppo city and for those in the surrounding areas near the Syrian city, a UN spokesman said.

The humanitarian situation in Aleppo was dire, including in the East of the city where between 250,000 to 275,000 people remain trapped following the July closure of the Castello Road, the deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said at a news briefing, Xinhua reported.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950526000648

--

South Asia

Detained ISIS militant in Afghanistan admits he was trained in Pakistan

Tue Aug 16 2016

A loyalist of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has admitted he received terrorist activities training in Pakistan.

The loyalist of the terror group was arrested by the Afghan intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives from Nangarhar province.

Afghan armyThe Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are preparing to retake control of the lost Dahana-e-Ghori district in northern Baghlan province.

Local security officials are saying the operations will be launchd in Dahana-e-Ghori and Baghlan-e-Markazi districts in the near future.

Provincial police spokesman Ahmad Jawed Basharat said the provincial security forces and additional forces have arrived in the area and are preparing to launch a major offensive to retake the lost areas.

The United States reaffirmed support to National Unity Government amid concerns followed by Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah’s remarks for calling President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as unfit for the office.

The US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau was responding to a question regarding the latest upheavals and whether US would send a delegation to help resolve the issue.

The NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan rejected claims by the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group regarding the alleged killing of a US military commander in Kabul.

“There is no truth to any claims that a U.S. military commander was killed in today’s #Kabul explosion, several ANA members were wounded only,” the alliance said.

India should speak out against rights’ violations, says B’desh opposition party

Aug 16, 2016

India should broaden its ties beyond the ruling party and speak up against rights’ violations in Bangladesh, the neighbouring country’s main opposition party, the BNP, has said.

The Modi government seemed to be following the UPA’s Bangladesh policy of focusing on the ruling party which amounted to ignoring other outfits, said Amir Khosru Chowdhury, adviser to Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Bangladeshi authorities named a third prime suspect on Monday in their investigation into the 1 July attack at a Dhaka cafe in which 20 hostages were killed, most of them foreigners.

Mohammed Saiful Islam from Dhaka's counter-terrorism police said Nurul Islam Marjan, a commander from the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group, had been identified on information from several different sources.

Five police officers and two civilians, including a child, were killed in an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Aug. 15.

Another 21 were wounded in the attack on a traffic police station at around 1:10 p.m.

The militants staged their attacks on the Murat Uçar Regional Traffic Inspection Station with a bomb-laden truck in the Şükürlü village located between the Çınar and the Bismil districts, Doğan News Agency reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has suggested a three-pronged road map for a solution to the five-year-old war in Syria, which has not only affected neighboring countries but also many parts of the world with the flight of more than 4 million refugees.

Stating that he was optimistic that a solution was at hand due to the changing nature of Turkish foreign policy, in which Ankara aims to make more friends and decrease its number of enemies, Yıldırım said the time had come for Turkey to mend relations with Syria after taking steps for rapprochement with Israel and Russia, adding that they would overcome the Syrian problem together with regional actors.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) referred dissident candidate Meral Akşener and its emergency convention delegation to the party’s disciplinary board on Aug. 16 with a demand for their expulsion from the party on the grounds that they violated Article 11 of the party code.

Ayhan Erel, Ali Sağır and Mehmet Bilgiç were the members of the emergency convention delegation that were referred to the disciplinary board.

Azerbaijan said on Aug. 15 it has launched a criminal investigation into the supporters of US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating the last month's abortive coup attempt.

"In order to prevent illegal actions on the territory of Azerbaijan by the supporters of the terrorist organisation of Fethullah Gülen, the prosecutor general has launched a criminal case," spokesman Eldar Sultanov told AFP.

Turkey’s FM in talks with European leaders over criticism of post-July 15 measures

August 16, 2016

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is in the midst of a series of telephone contacts with European counterparts amid ongoing tension between Turkey and the European Union in the aftermath of the attempted coup plot of July 15.

Çavuşoğlu’s contacts with Elmar Brok, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, and Estonian Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand took place on Aug. 15 upon his counterparts’ request, Turkish diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 16.

Turkish police launched simultaneous raids on 44 companies in Istanbul on Aug. 16 and had warrants to detain 120 company executives as part of the investigation into last month's attempted military coup, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

It said the companies were accused of giving financial support to the movement of U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt. He denies the accusation.

Detention warrants were issued for 83 court personnel in Istanbul early on Aug. 16 as part of the ongoing probe into the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which is believed to have been behind Turkey’s failed coup attempt of July 15.

The suspects working at the Anadolu Courthouse on the Asian side of the city are suspected of having links to the organization, according to judicial sources.

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Tuesday confirmed the death sentences of 11 'hardcore terrorists' involved in committing "heinous offences related to terrorism," said an Inter-Services Public Relations statement.

The convicts were involved in killing of DIG Fayyaz Sumbal and ASI Raza Khan of Balochistan Police and Inspector Kamran Nazir of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) at Quetta, ISPR said.

The convicted terrorists also include those who were involved in sectarian killings, kidnapping and killing of civilians and personnel of Frontier Constabulary and killing of Major Majeed of Pakistan Army.

Islamabad: The Pakistan Army on Tuesday announced the launch of an operation along the Pakistan- Afghanistan border in Rajgal valley.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said the operation was launched “to reinforce troop deployment in Rajgal valley to effectively check and guard against” movement across the porous border in Khyber Agency, reports the Dawn.

Islamabad: Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed commenting on the recent Kashmir issue which had been on the boil for more than a month with at least 58 killed and thousands wounded during protests against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last month, has asked Pakistan military to send its troops into Kashmir to teach India a lesson.

According to Pakistan media, the 26/11 mastermind Saeed has asked this to Army chief General Raheel Sharif.

Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has invited his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar to Islamabad for talks on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

Chaudhry on Monday afternoon called in Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale and handed over a letter addressed to his Indian counterpart, inviting him to visit Pakistan for talks on Jammu and Kashmir, which he termed “the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan”, said the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement issued here.

ISIS in West Africa Shows Clashes With Nigerian Army & African Coalition

August 15, 2016

In a new video purportedly released by the Islamic State, Boko Haram militants in “Wilayat Gharb Afriqiya” are shown combatting West African counterterrorism troops. The video was released on August 15 on ISIS terrorist channels.

In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance, or “bayat,” to the Islamic State, formerly declaring themselves as “Wilayat Gharb Afriqiya,” or the Islamic State of West Africa. Since then, they have been causing havoc in the region under ISIS’ flag and releasing similar propaganda. In one particularly brutal video, they gun down civilians.

When Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy finally came to power in Myanmar last year, there was much scepticism among ethnic minorities as to whether the nobel laureate would speak up for their rights. So far, the new government has not done much to change this view, particularly among the Rohingya minority whose lack of citizenship and poor living conditions are a recurring theme in refugee movements around the region.

BANGKOK – Thai police said Monday they have sought Malaysia’s cooperation in investigating last week’s blasts in southern Thailand that killed four Thais and injured more than 30 people, including foreign tourists.

National Police Chief Chakthip Chaichinda told a press conference that Thai police asked their Malaysian counterparts for help after finding that one of the mobile phones used in the blasts does not come from Thailand.

I went to Arlington National Cemetery this month to visit the grave of Humayun Khan, the Muslim soldier killed in Ir Myanmar's Muslims: A Long Way doaq whose father spoke at the Democratic Convention. I walked among four hundred thousand white marble headstones to Section 60, the fourteen-acre plot for the fatalities of America’s recent wars. Khan, a handsome man with penetrating eyes, died when a suicide bomber driving an orange taxi sped toward his base. He shouted “Hit the dirt!” to his men while he tried to stop it. The bomb detonated. Khan was twenty-seven. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. His grave-site locator is 7986. He is buried between Jeremiah Savage, who died in Iraq, and Robert Mogensen, who was killed in Afghanistan—all three within seventeen days in May, 2004.

Donald Trump wants to bar any Muslim who supports the death penalty for gays from entering the United States. That’s among a long list of reasons he outlined today that a person could be denied entry — or even ordered to leave the country after already immigrating here.

"I call it extreme vetting," he told a raucous crowd during a foreign policy speech delivered in Ohio. Trump began the speech by rattling off a list of terror attacks and their casualties worldwide. He included the Pulse shooting in Orlando, saying “and I’ll tell you what, we can never ever allow this to happen again.”

A suspect was charged on Monday in the fatal shootings of an imam and another Muslim man, as hundreds of mourners gathered in Queens, New York, to remember the victims and call for justice.

Late Monday night, Oscar Morel, 35-year-old Hispanic male from Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, police said. He had already been charged with a hit and run and assaulting an officer.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

New Age Islam(Hindi: न्यू ऐज इस्लाम,Urdu: نیو ایج اسلام,Arabic: نيو أج اسلام) is aliberal Musliminstitution based in New Delhi,India.[1]It encouragesprogressivethinking amongMuslimsworldwide by exposing them to news, analyses and opinions on a variety of social, political, theological and spiritual issues related toIslam. It also provides a platform for debate on contemporary concerns facing Muslims, such asreligious extremism,terrorismand relations with other religious groups.[2][3][4]